MT: Judge gives Gianforte six weeks to hand over documents related to 'bad actor' request

[gratuitous]

1. Gianforte has been stonewalling for a year and a half

And the judge gives him another six weeks. What do you bet that come August Gianforte is all "Documents? What documents? I don't have any documents."

Reading through the article, it looks like Gianforte is arguing in bad faith and trying to invent exceptions in the law that don't exist. If the plaintiffs petitioned for attorney fees to pursue this order, the court should order Gianforte to pay up.

Additionally, Abbott issued the order as a writ of mandamus – a legal instrument that mandates Gianforte turn over all documents covered by the request within six weeks. The instrument is rare because of its general and far-reaching nature, rather than a dispute about a particular document or group of documents.

Abbott granted the order because the Gianforte administration has yet to produce a single document related to the request.

“Here the governor has produced no documents at all and supplied no privilege log,” Abbott wrote.